If you’ve ever been to a metal show, you’ll know that they’re funny. Simultaneously really cheesy and really hardcore, metal dudes are quite frequently just nice guys that revel in the irony of it all. You can’t constantly be wearing shirts with upside-down crosses and heavy ass phrases and mean it all of the time. (Note: We are definitely not including those from the second wave of the Nordic black metal scene in these generalizations.)

If you don’t believe my statements about metal dudes, though, perhaps these hella heavy metal quilts by Ben Venom will convince you. In his statement of work, he says:

“I’m interested in juxtaposing traditional handmade crafts with one of the more extreme musical genres, Heavy Metal. My work can be described as a collision of Iron Maiden Metal ballads with the outrageous stage antics of Ozzy Osbourne. Serious, yet attempting to take on a B movie Horror ﬁlm style where even the beasts of Metal need a warm blanket to sleep with. The question remains… Can I play with madness?”

Let’s keep in mind these quilts aren’t a one-time creation with little thought put into them. Venom not only needs to craft the blankets, but he needs to attain the materials, which probably involves hours of sifting through thrift store piles to find heaps of Slayer, Def Leppard, and AC/DC discards. Then, after fighting the arduous mental battle to justify that art is greater than the sadness of the few individuals offended that he is tearing apart t-shirt classics, Venom repurposes the shirts into cozy creations. Sure, the blankets are centered around calaveras, wolves, and other stereotypically metal shit, but come on, they’re blankets. You definitely get the idea that Venom’s probably not that serious most of the time… which is just really metal of him.

Don’t Wake Me Lucifer! / 83″ x 95″ / 2010

Am I Demon? / 41” x 51” / 2010

Listen to Heavy Metal While You Sleep! / 73” x 99” / 2010

White Magic / 21” x 21” / 2010

Raised by Wolves / 19” x 19” / 2011

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Vivian Hua (華婷婷) wears a lot of random hats, but has somewhat mastered globetrotting like a hobo and evading traditional 9-to-5 work schedules. She enjoys observing human idiosyncrasies perhaps more than anything and is a magnet for homeless people (a joy) and bug bites of all types (absolutely terrible). Through her work, she hopes to embrace the temporary while documenting the nostalgic, using divination and dream symbolism as guides through the cosmic maze. Additional writing, art, video, and other crap, like her astrological chart, can be seen at www.inallthings-patterns.net. She is the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE magazine, and quite appreciates unsolicited personal e-mails just to shoot the shit and narrow the gaps between human beings.